Monday, November 29th, 2010 at 4:03 pm  |  13 responses

Don’t Tell The Guys, But We’re Winning

Yves Saint of The Niceguys examines the Knicks’ recent upswing.

by Yves Saint | @EasyYvesSaint

“Shh. Don’t tell the guys, but we’re winning.” That’s the attitude I took toward blogging during the Knicks’ five-game winning streak. It’s just like the truly wealthy that don’t like to speak about money unless they absolutely have to. It’s tacky. Mine was more silly superstition and laziness. Awe, even.

So we lost to Atlanta. Let’s see why: Fatigue. If there were any technical difficulties, then I would say it was a poor second quarter. But was the cause of this loss. Something to notice here is that out of those five wins, all were 100+ point scoring efforts, along with one 99-point effort. This means, once again, that they are capable of scoring. Take for instance, that 125-point win over Detroit on Sunday. D’Antoni, congratulations. But:

THEY. NEED. DEFENSE.

The Knicks will continue to lose games defensively. It has to be drilled in. I’m not going to complain about a lack of the star just yet, because the issue is not scoring as much as it’s defense. Defense is the attitude of the city. This is where the grit and  excitement and fear of The Garden can be re-cultivated. Talented players are not enough. We need our identity back so we can remind New Yorkers who they are. Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul or whomever else would be a great addition, but they need to be stepping into a situation where the stage is set. A star isn’t the answer. It is and always will be an identity issue. Sometimes it looks like they just don’t want to win. My question is: “Do you see your problem?” And if yes, “Are you capable of correcting it?” As a firm believer in results, I know that the sooner you effectively attack a problem, the sooner it goes away. Like with cancer, and early detection.

A few more notes: Doesn’t Blake Griffin look like someone out of Lupin the 3rd? Lupin, himself, even. Did anyone expect the Knicks’ and the Heat’s records to be nearly identical at any other point in the season but the opener? I want the hand check back. Remember when shoe contracts were scarce? We need that back. Am I the only person who is really noticing a serious problem with the League now? Something is officially wrong. Maybe I want the League to harden up again because somewhere deep down I know that the Knicks would thrive in it. It seems like football is softening up as well. I live my Orange and Blue fantasies through the AU Tigers.

P.S. Lebron’s bumping of Spoelstra was, to say the least, soft. Exactly what are you saying with actions like that? Here are a few things to consider:
1. There is no guarantee that things will get better for them. To get better and win, two things have to happen, and in a specific order: Respect your coach, then stop talking. Things will get a lot better for the Heat. I promise.
2. I saw this coming. May sound far-fetched but this is the type of crap the non-hand check era has produced.
3. There is a good chance that all that camaraderie we saw during their Big 3 special will disintegrate and they will start pointing the finger at each other when the losses get to be too much to ignore.
4. The Heat situation may also be the best thing ever in making sure something like this never happens again. People are seeing now how well it DOESN’T work.
5. Sadly, they still have the talent to turn things around. They just need to be men.

With all of that said…Go Knicks!

Make sure to keep up with The Niceguys at Facebook.com/TheNiceguysMusic, Twitter.com/theniiceguys, and download their new album, The Show, for free at http://thenicelook.com.

  • Add a Comment
  • Share
  • RSS

Tags: , , , ,

  • Thurogood

    well said Yves. long live the HAND CHECK. Rockets vs Knicks NBA Finals style

  • http://TheNiceLook.com Yves

    Honestly. It’s those subtle things that encourage competition and grit.

  • ab40

    I co-sign the part where you say the heat just need to act like men. They’re being weak lil … right now

  • http://TheNiceLook.com Yves

    It’s a shame. Honestly. I wish we could undo some of the coddling we have done as far as our “stars” go.

  • DAVID_STERN

    Stern hears that. Word.

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    Undoing the coddling…. starts with correcting the contractual side of things?

  • arjae828

    I can dig it. Knicks fan for life. Def don’t want the league to go back to the 70 point games with slow tempo to limit possessions…but maybe the 80′s? Bad Boys? Blazers? Bulls? Defensive teams that sped tempo and got buckets. I was just watching the games last night on league pass. You literally can’t go one full possession down & back (offense to defense) without hearing a whistle. I felt like I had A.D.D. because I would change the channel at each free throw or commercial break. I was watching each game in 15 sec. intervals ! I guess I got hooked on Fiba rules over the summer (minus the obviously sucky ones, basket interference anyone?). Those games were great ! Intensity. No super star calls (well not nearly as many.) No bail out calls. THEY CALLED TRAVELING. And best of all?…minimal commercial breaks, or stoppages in general. I’m a firm believer that we were getting waxed in the international tournaments for so many years because we got so used to just driving to the basket and ramming into defenders and getting free throws.

  • fourthree

    Co-sign Arj. Watching NBA games now is stop ang go. Might as well watch the recaps. Something is missing. I don’t know of it’s the handcheck thing but it would be a good place to start. With the Heat “situation” isn’t it scary that despite the rocky start, with all thier talent, they could still turn it around and still get deep into the playoffs. With how things are right now getting a championship seems pretty far off but they still are an elite team. Just on thier talent alone. Add a couple more pieces and thier stars man up a chip would be inevitable in the years to come. That’s if thier still on the same team..

  • http://TheNiceLook.com Yves

    @DACRE I need you to elaborate.

  • http://TheNiceLook.com Yves

    @fourthree we aren’t experts but I think you @Arjae828 and I know what works and what has worked. I was talking to a friend about how athletes used to be gladiators. Fighters and men on character. Sports are sports because they are supposed to embody characteristics revered by spectators. The “spirit” of competition. How often did you call an athlete soft back in the day? Rarely. Now it’s so common. It’s like they are trying to make getting hurt or injured taboo or something.

    thanx @David_stern

  • J.Free

    This was my main problem with the Knicks’ picking up Amare. Sure he scores all day, but you also picked up a PF who DOESN’T REBOUND, or play D for that matter. He’s been known for it. I’m with you on a lot of this. I don’t know when it became acceptable for Forwards/Centers to be “Finesse” PFs and Centers. In the Barkley/Rodman Era, a lot of these players wouldn’t exist as they do now. I guess its just the way the game has changed, but the fact of the matter is if it was A guard’s job to do the dirty work you may as well just play with 5 Guards and allow them to roam the 3 pt line all game. What the Knicks are gonna need is a a couple pit bulls. The Lakers realized that in picking up Artest (and Barnes this year). They need an enforcer down low (or 2). The hard part about it is that no hand checking enables a lot of the soft stuff, and that’s a shame.

    As far as Miami goes, I’ll reiterate what you said. Be a MAN… Now I don’t know if bumping the coach was on purpose, or even worth picking apart as much as the media is doing, but what I do know is this. RIGHT NOW the Heat look as if they are at an all star game. They aren’t making any effort to run a play, they’re just out there shooting. For Spol to even allow any of that to happen is amazing to me. I don’t get how you can let that pass. Then again if your players don’t seem to respect you then they’re gonna do what they want. Even with that said, As a former athlete I never got the concept of anything less than a WIN. Whatever the problem is, it shouldn’t even be visible on the court. Just shut up and WIN. You get paid to do it, and quite frankly its not like you have anything better to do. It doesn’t really even matter if you like or dislike the coach or the guy playing, You should have enough pride as a man, to Play and win. Anything less on their part makes them the Cowboys of the NBA.

  • Thurogood

    @arjae828

    “I was watching each game in 15 sec. intervals ! I guess I got hooked on Fiba rules over the summer (minus the obviously sucky ones, basket interference anyone?). Those games were great ! Intensity. No super star calls (well not nearly as many.) No bail out calls. THEY CALLED TRAVELING. And best of all?…minimal commercial breaks, or stoppages in general. I’m a firm believer that we were getting waxed in the international tournaments for so many years because we got so used to just driving to the basket and ramming into defenders and getting free throws. ”

    Ahmen! I love international ball, Saturday mornings on NBATV. It’s great. That’s how the game is meant to be played, back and forth. Watching the international games has a calming effect.

  • http://TheNiceLook.com Yves

    Very well said Jack. Very.

Advertisement